Local schools participating in the National School Walkout

Students at Pleasantville Middle and High Schools participated in a national walkout of school day to raise awareness about school safety and gun reform March 14, 2018 in Pleasantville, New York.
Tania Savayan/lohud

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Students at Lincoln High School in Yonkers hold sunflowers for the Parkland victims as they participate in the National School Walkout during the rally against gun violence, March 14, 2018. (Photo: Mark Vergari/The Journal News)Buy Photo

Students across Westchester and Putnam counties are walking out of class this morning to raise awareness about strengthening gun laws.

The protest, which is part of the National School Walkout, took place at 10 a.m. and lasted for 17 minutes — one minute for each person killed during the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Why today?

Today marks one month since the school shooting in Parkland.

Since the Feb. 14 shooting, demonstrations have popped up on campuses around the country, but today's rally is the first one with a large-scale national reach and is being coordinated by organizers of the Women's March.

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Seventeen people spoke at Lincoln High School in Yonkers to represent the Parkland victims, saying what they stand for during Wednesday's National School Walkout on March 14, 2018.(Photo: Colleen Wilson/The Journal News)

Who is participating?

Demonstrations are expected at dozens of Westchester's high schools and middle schools, including Mamaroneck High School, Fox Lane High School in Bedford, Farragut Middle School in Hastings-on-Hudson and Blind Brook High School in Rye Brook.

Local elementary schools are not expected to participate. However, in Yonkers, they have designed a "walk-in" for grades 4-12 that will have students gather inside their schools to voice opinions and, for the younger grades, age-appropriate assemblies about school safety.

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Lower Hudson Valley students provide a behind-the-scenes look into their school's walkout by posting to lohud's Instagram account.

Nationally, there are protests happening in more than 2,500 locations, according to the initiative's organizers, EMPOWER, which is the youth chapter of the Women's March Network.

Why are students doing this?

Along with honoring the lives of the victims, students are rallying to demand stricter gun control measures, including a ban on assault weapons, universal background checks and a restraining order that would allow courts to disarm individuals who show warning signs of violent behavior.

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Students at Lincoln High School in Yonkers, join in the National School Walkout during the rally against gun violence, March 14, 2018. (Photo: Mark Vergari/The Journal News)

"The goal of this is to make people know that the only way to come about change is to fight for it," said Anne Pozner, a senior and one of the organizer's for Carmel High School's walkout. "We want a call to Congress to do something, to start the conversation."

For Abe Baker-Butler, a Blind Brook High School sophomore, and many peers at his high school, this demonstration is personal.

"A lot of the students in our high school knew one of the victims in the shooting in Parkland," Baker-Butler said, adding that several students attended a Pennsylvania camp where Parkland victim Scott Biegel was a counselor. "Seeing someone that they knew become a victim really woke up a lot of people in my town and my school to the idea that this isn’t so far off, this is closer to us."

What happens during a walkout?

Each walkout will probably be a little different largely because it's a student-led initiative.

Baker-Butler, of Blind Brook, said district officials have been "cooperating" with their walkout organizers, "even though they're not supporting it."

Blind Brook Superintendent Jonathan Ross said: "While we don’t condone or endorse any particular political cause platform or agenda, we certainly support their first amendment right."

Baker-Butler said their walkout will include speakers reiterating the message of the school's walkout, others sharing personal stories about Biegel, a Parkland victim who knew several Blind Brook students, and then an elected official will speak about the importance of student activism.

At Carmel High School, some students may speak while others will be carrying signs that say "enough is enough," and "others say no more silence, stop gun violence."

"We also are trying to make sure that it’s vocal and significant, that it's not just a memorial, it's for the nation as a whole," said Taylor Smith, another organizer and senior at Carmel High School.

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One month after the Feb. 14 mass shooting that left 17 staff and students dead at a high school in Parkland, Florida, students across the country are planning a youth-led school walkout to protest gun violence and demand action from lawmakers. (March 13)
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How are school officials reacting?

Some schools across the country, including in New Jersey and Texas, may discipline students who walk out while others are working with police to find places on campus where kids can rally.

Many schools in Westchester and Putnam are closing their campuses to visitors, in some cases including parents interested in demonstrating.

A letter to parents from Isaac E. Young Middle School Principal Anthony Bongo, in New Rochelle, said, "The event is not sanctioned by the school, yet if any student chooses to participate in a 'walk out,' we will provide a safe, orderly, and well-planned process for them to follow."

Ossining High School Principal Stephen Hancock's note to parents said students participating in the walkout will not face disciplinary consequences, but those who return to class after 10:45 a.m. will be marked late.

In most cases, administrators have indicated that students who choose not to walk out will either stay in their classrooms to continue with regular instruction, or will be escorted to a supervised area in school for the duration of the demonstration.

Why are people wearing orange?

Orange is meant to represent the anti-gun violence movement.

What else should I know?

Follow @lohud on Instagram between 9 and 11 a.m. as local students give us a behind-the-scenes look into their school's walkout.

What happens after the walkout?

Wednesday's rally is the first of three planned demonstrations this spring and part of a greater movement spurred by survivors of the Parkland shooting.

On March 24, a larger demonstration will be held in Washington, D.C., which is expected to draw thousands, including groups from the Lower Hudson Valley.

Those who can't make it to the nation's capital are being encouraged to organize rallies within their community. So far, more than 650 smaller demonstrations are planned across the country as part of the March For Our Lives movement.

Several rallies will be held locally that day. For example, one will begin at Pascone Park on Ashford Avenue in Ardsley at 11 a.m. where there will be an introductory speech and then a 2-mile march to McDowell Field on Heatherdell Road for a rally.

Then, on April 20, another national walkout will be held to mark the anniversary of the shooting in 1999 at Columbine High School in Colorado.